- Published
- October 2025
- Page Count
- 474
- ISBN (Digital)
- 979-8-88794-425-8
Understanding Media and Culture in the 2020s: An Introduction to Mass Communication
Version 4.0
By Jack Lule
Included Supplements
Homework
Manual
Slides
Tests
Key Features
- Dedicated chapters for each individual medium
- Separate chapters on electronic games, social media, media law and ethics, and media economics (Chapters 10–14)
- A section on the future of the medium concludes each chapter
- Consistent chapter structure: history, role in American culture, trends, and the future of the medium
- Over 60 embedded hyperlinks to streaming videos enrich online and hybrid courses, engage students, and reinforce or augment many of the presented topics
- Supportive learning features in each chapter:
- Learning Objectives preview each main head section and help focus the reader’s attention
- Key Takeaways at the end of every main head section summarize new information while it is fresh to encourage retention
- Exercises at the end of every main head section prompt deeper understanding and critical reflection
- Chapter-End
- End-of-Chapter Assessments organized by section help students consolidate what they have learned and prepare for tests
- Critical Thinking Questions engage students in active learning and help to master key concepts
- Career Connection addresses a key concern of communication majors about how the material applies to their own professional aspirations
- Answer guidelines for all End-of-Chapter Assessments and Critical Thinking Questions are included in the instructor’s manual
- Customizable
Students
- Online Access Price
- $33.95
- Color Printed Textbook with Online Access Price
- $60.95
Understanding Media and Culture in the 2020s: An Introduction to Mass Communication is suitable for courses called Introduction to Mass Communication, Mass Communication, Media and Society, Mass Media or similar titles taught at the undergraduate level in two- and four-year colleges and universities.
Understanding Media and Culture in the 2020s paints a compelling picture of the current state of mass communication and the most likely trends to propel the industry through the 2020s. Each medium is covered in its own chapter, and begins with its history and evolution, followed by its role in American culture and current trends, and concludes by discussing its future in the 2020s. Fully revised throughout, this book features chapters dedicated to the economics of mass media, electronic games, and social media. Understanding Media and Culture in the 2020s encourages learners to develop the critical perspective necessary to become smart consumers of information and provides them with a strong grounding for further media studies.
New in This Version
Overall
- References to Artificial Intelligence throughout as AI begins to shape media and culture, including in movies, journalism, television, and more
- The growth of branding as an essential element of advertising and public relations
- The continued evolution of streaming media, affecting music, television, radio, and movies
By Chapter
- Enhanced role of social influencers, from Mr. Beast to Joe Rogan, and their relationship to gatekeepers (Section 1.6)
- Social justice movements—including #BlackLivesMatter and #OscarsSoWhite—and the challenging of those movements in the mid-2020s (e.g., Section 1.1, Section 8.3, Section 8.5, and Section 12.4)
- Social media’s influence on the 2024 elections (Section 2.2; Chapter 11)
- TikTok’s history and future, with special attention to U.S. politics in the mid-2020s (Section 2.1 and Section 11.5)
- Political threats to the funding of National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) (Chapters 4 and 9)
- The turmoil at the Washington Post in 2025 as owner Jeff Bezos intervened with the work of the editorial pages (Section 4.6)
- The continued strength of country music formatting on radio, with even hip-hop artist, Beyonce, releasing a country album (Section 7.4)
- Donald Trump’s stormy relationship with social media platforms and the creation of his own platform, Truth Social (Section 11.3 and Section 13.1)
- Continued political attacks on net neutrality (Section 11.4 and Section 14.2)
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Preface
-
Chapter 1: Understanding Media and Culture in the 2020s
-
Chapter 2: Media Effects: “The Dark Side of TikTok”
-
Chapter 3: Books: The First Mass Medium
-
Chapter 4: Newspapers: Survival of the Fittest
-
Chapter 5: Magazines: Is Print Dead?
-
Chapter 6: Music: The Eras Tour
-
Chapter 7: Radio: No Static at All
-
Chapter 8: Movies: Blockbusters and Spinoffs
-
Chapter 9: Television: The Electronic Hearth Dims
-
Chapter 10: Electronic Games: League of Legends
-
Chapter 11: Social Media: What Follows TikTok?
-
Chapter 12: Advertising and Public Relations: Branding for Dollars
-
Chapter 13: Media Law and Ethics: Trying to Keep Up
-
Chapter 14: Media Economics: The Future of Media
FlatWorld Homework
FlatWorld Homework includes multi-format questions written specifically for your FlatWorld book, which you can access through our stand-alone interface or integrate with your learning management system.
Instructor’s Manual
The Instructor’s Manual guides you through the main concepts of each chapter and important elements such as learning objectives, key terms, and key takeaways. Can include answers to chapter exercises, group activity suggestions, and discussion questions.
PowerPoint Lecture Notes
A PowerPoint presentation highlighting key learning objectives and the main concepts for each chapter are available for you to use in your classroom. You can either cut and paste sections or use the presentation as a whole.
Test Generator - powered by Cognero
FlatWorld has partnered with Cognero, a leading online assessment system, that allows you to create printable tests from FlatWorld provided content.
Test Bank Files for Import to Learning Management Systems
For your convenience, we've packaged our test items for easy import into Learning Management Systems like Blackboard, Brightspace/D2L, Canvas, Moodle, or Respondus.
Test Item File
Need assistance in supplementing your quizzes and tests? Our test-item files (in Word format) contain many multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, and short-answer questions.
Sample Syllabi
Sample syllabi provide useful templates to help new faculty adopters revise their teaching plans to match their assigned FlatWorld textbook or lend insights to existing adopters on how to organize their classes.
DownloadAt FlatWorld, we take pride in providing a range of high-quality supplements alongside our titles, to help instructors teach effectively. Supplements are available for instructors who have registered their adoption with us. If you need to review or preview something specific, please contact us.
Already registered? Sign in here.